Fun Weekend!!

This weekend my sister, Lindsay came for a visit!! It was so good to see her. She lives in Charleston, SC. and we haven't gotten to see each other in a while. Lindsay's birthday is May 23, but we didn't get to celebrate with her, so we had a surprise "post" birthday party when she came in on Saturday night. My family came over for a hot dogs, hamburgers, cake and homemade ice cream. YUM YUM!!!

Here is Linds blowing out her candles.

Kale grilling the hot dogs and hamburgers.

Lindsay and I

The food table

Sunday we celebrated with Kale's family and dad at lunch. Then we went down to Mellow Mushroom and ate pizza with my dad for dinner. Lindsay left Monday. :0( I was sad, but excited because we are going to visit her in about 2 weeks for 7 days in Charleston. Can't wait!!!

Kelly's Korner Show us your life- Proposal Story

Kale and I went to high school together and dated for 5 years before we got engaged. It was my first year of teaching and we had been talking about getting married for a long time. To be honest I was expecting a ring at Christmas, but when that didn't happen I just let it go and decided to be patient and wait. ;0)

On Valentine's day Kale sent me a beautiful bouquet of a dozen red roses at school. On the card he wrote that this was going to be the best Valentine's day we had ever had. In the back of my mind I wondered if he would proposed. After school he told me we were going to go on a surprise trip. We had never gone on a trip alone before, so I was very excited.

Our first stop was Maggie Valley, North Carolina. Maggie Valley holds a special place in my heart, because as a child a spent a lot of summer's there at Jonathan Creek Inn, a hotel that my family owned. We stopped at the hotel and I showed him around. In the back there is a beautiful creek with rocking chairs and wooden swings for relaxing. We were sitting on a swing when I decided to get up and walk towards the deck, but to my surprise Kale held onto my hand. When I turned around he was on one knee. I was so excited, he started to cry and asked me to marry him. I cried and said, YES!!! It was absolutely perfect!!! He totally surprised me. It couldn't have been any better. I am glad I didn't pitch a fit at Christmas. This was much better!!

Below is a picture of Jonathan Creek Inn

After he proposed we hopped in the car and headed to Asheville, North Carolina. Kale surprised me again with a fabulous weekend at the wonderful Grove Park Inn. It is a beautiful resort!! We had such a great time. It was a trip I will never forget.

School

Kale and I are both in school. Fun...not so much. If one of us isn't studying or writing a paper the other one is. I told him last night we oughta be one smart couple after its all said and done. I will be finished with my specialist and he will finally :0) have a history degree this coming December, and I am so ready for December. I know that this busy time in our life is only for a season, but I sure am tired of planning my schedule around our classes. Hopefully next year at this time I will be able to look back at this post and smile a smile of relief that all of our schooling, well at least MY schooling, will be over!! :)

Show us your life - China pattern

I remember it like it was yesterday...picking out my china and dishes. It was so much fun!!! There is a little store in my town that everyone registers at called The Gift Garden. When I got engaged I couldn't wait to go in and pick out all my stuff. In the very back of the store there are little tables with all the engaged couples and their registry items they picked out. I remember being so excited to see my table. It was like a right of passage or something. Ha!

Here is my china/ everyday dishes....

My fine china is made by Lenox and is called, Grand Central. My favorite part about it is the gold and platinum accent plate.

Below are the glasses I picked out. I LOVE them. They have these at The Gift Garden and almost all of my friends have the same ones except in different colors. They are just too pretty to pass up.

These are my everyday dishes. I love the earthy colors. They match my house perfectly. They are made in Italy by a company called Vietri.

I am also working on a collection of "Fiesta" dishes.

And I would really love a set of Christmas dishes. Maybe one day... :0)

ER Visit

Last night at the church softball game Kale hurt his finger. I mean really hurt his finger. Like popped it out of joint and deformed it hurt his finger. It was pretty disgusting. So, after he came off the field we went to the ER. As we were sitting in the waiting room, I began to look around and realize how blessed we were. I mean it was a little inconvenient that Kale got hurt and we had to sit in a crowed waiting room for 3 hours, but he was ok, I was ok, our family was ok. Thank you Jesus that it was only a dislocated finger and not something worse that warranted this trip to the ER waiting room.

After Kale got x -rays the doctor had to pull it back into place. Ouch!!!! He splinted it up, gave him some meds., and sent us home to follow up with a doctor later this week. Not what I had envisioned for the night, but very thankful it wasn't anything worse.

Here is Kale pointing to the pain scale. You can see how much pain he was really in. ;0)

Will I?

I don't want to be stagnant. I don't want to be comfortable. I don't want to waste what He has given me. I don't want to forget.

Masterpiece...That is what the Creator of the Universe has said about me. I am a masterpiece. He put me together piece by piece. I was watching this video tonight on this website (Broken voices video #4 poem) and it really made me think. The man in the video talks about how masterpiece in the Bible can be translated to mean "poem". He goes on to describe a poem as being full of hopes and despairs, beautiful and deep. For real God made me like a poem? I have that much inside of me?

God has so much for me, but I get lost in life. Job, house, bills, family...the list goes on and on. I want so much for me, but what am I doing for HIM. He commands us to love. Will I love? He asks us to give sacrificially. Will I give sacrificially like the widow who gave everything or will I be worried I won't have enough money for that next trip to Target? He asks us to trust. Will I trust that He has a plan for our family? Will I trust Him to give us the babies He wants us to have?

I want to Love.

I want to Give.

I want to Live the life He has for me.

I will.

He says I will.

I believe his word and His promises.

I believe His love endures forever.

I believe Ephesians 3:20 (msg)

God can do anything you know- far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does not push us around but by working within us, his mighty spirit deeply and gently within us.